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Brooke Astor (born March 30, 1902)[1] is an American socialite and philanthropist.
Birth and Childhood
She was born Roberta Brooke Russell in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of John Henry Russell, Jr., a Marine Corps officer, and his wife, née Mabel Cecile Hornby Howard. She has named for her maternal grandmother, Roberta Traill Brooke MacGill Howard.
Her father, who retired as a major general, ended his military career as 16th commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. Due to her father's career, she spent much of her childhood living in China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and points beyond.
First Marriage
She married her first husband, John Dryden Kuser (1897-1964), at age 17, in 1919 ([[2]]). Her husband, the son of the financier and conservationist Col. Anthony Rudolph Kuser, later became a New Jersey state senator.[1]
This marriage she once described as "the worst years of her life", with her husband physically abusing her, drinking to excess and philandering. The couple had one child, Anthony Dryden Kuser (1924-).
The Kusers divorced in 1930.[2]
Second Marriage
Her second husband, whom she married in 1932, was Charles Henry Marshall (1890-1952), the senior partner of the investment firm Butler, Herrick & Marshall, a brother-in-law of the mercantile heir Marshall Field III, and a descendant of James Lenox, the founder of the Lenox Library.[3]
In 1942, Marshall, known as Buddy, adopted his stepson as Anthony Dryden Marshall. By this marriage, Brooke Marshall also had two stepchildren, Peter Marshall and Helen Huntington Marshall.[4]
During this marriage, Brooke Marshall worked as a features editor at House & Garden magazine and was on staff at Ruby Ross Wood Inc., a prominent New York decorating firm.
Third Marriage
In 1953, eleven months after Charles Marshall's death, she married her third and final husband, Vincent Astor (1891-1959), the chairman of the board of Newsweek magazine and the last notably wealthy American member of the famous Astor family. The elder son of Titanic victim Colonel John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912), he had been married and divorced twice before.
During her brief marriage to Astor, whom she called "Captain," Brooke Astor participated in his real-estate and hotel empire and his philanthropic endeavors. Between 1954 and 1958, she redecorated one of his properties, the St. Regis hotel.
Philanthropic Endeavors
Though she was apointed a member of the board of the Astor Foundation soon after her marriage, upon Vincent Astor's death in 1959, she took charge of all the philanthropies to which he left his fortune. Despite liquidating the Vincent Astor Foundation in 1997, she continues to be active in charities and in New York's social life. The New York Public Library was always one of Astor's favorite charities. As a result of her charity work, Astor was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in 1998.
She also has been involved with Reading for the Blind, the Maternity Center Association, the Astor Home for emotionally disturbed children, and the Womens Auxiliary Board of the Society of the New York Hospital.
Literary Works
Brooke Astor is the author of several books, including novels and a memoir, A Patchwork Child.
2006 elder abuse allegations against her son
On July 26, 2006, the New York Daily News ran a front-page cover story on the family feud between Astor's son, Anthony Dryden Marshall, and her grandson Philip Marshall, pertaining to the welfare of the aging Mrs. Astor, now 104 years of age. The story details how Astor's grandson has filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of his father as the socialite's guardian and the appointment of Annette de la Renta, the wife of designer Oscar de la Renta instead.
The lawsuit alleges that Marshall has not provided for his elderly mother and, instead, he has allowed her to live in squalor and that he has cut back on necessary medication and doctor's visits, while enriching himself with income from her estate. The story also reports that in addition to Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller have provided affidavits supporting Philip Marshall's requests for a change in guardianship.
The day the story appeared, New York State Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse granted an order appointing Annette de la Renta guardian and JP Morgan Chase Bank to be in charge of Mrs. Astor's finances, according to news reports. Both actions are temporary pending a hearing scheduled for August 8, 2006. In the interim, Astor has been moved to Lenox Hill Hospital.
Footnotes
- ^ In 1927, Brooke and Dryden Kuser lived in a New York City townhouse which they rented from Madeleine La Force Astor Dick (Mrs. William K. Dick), the stepmother of Brooke's eventual third husband.
- ^ Dryden Kuser married as his second wife, in 1930, Marie Fisher Banks (formerly Mrs. James Lenox Banks, Jr.). They eventually divorced and he married as his third wife, in 1935, Louise Mattei Farry (formerly Mrs. Joseph Farry).
- ^ Curiously, Charles Marshall's first wife, Alice Ford Huntington, was a sister of Helen Dinsmore Huntington, who was the first wife of Vincent Astor.
- ^ At the age of 21, Helen Huntington "Peggy" Marshall married the 63-year-old composer, pianist, and conductor Ernest Schelling.